Yung Money Larson-esque at Eagle

Lonnie Wheatley, EAGLE, Neb. (June 13, 2017) – It looked like a rainout-to-be for all intents and purposes.

Storms were brewing and the odds of getting Tuesday night’s 30-lap World of Outlaws Sprint Car feature at Eagle Raceway in the books were looking slim.

But even the weather gods that haven’t been particularly cooperative in 2017 wanted to see this one to its fruition.

After all Kyle Larson was in the house. And one never knows when what can only be described as the next “Larson-esque” moment just might occur.

“Yung Money” didn’t disappoint the weather gods or the massive Nebraska crowd on this one, digging deep to swipe an unlikely win away from an unsuspecting Daryn Pittman as the white flag flew.

“I was kind of frustrated early, it took me a while to get the top of one and two working,” Larson said after the jaw-dropping triumph. “Once we got going, we were ripping the top pretty good, that race was a lot of fun.”

It wasn’t known until early Tuesday when Larson tweeted that he would be driving a second Stenhouse, Jr./Wood Racing entry teamed with regular shoe Joey Saldana.

Showing up to drive a car he hadn’t seen before at a track that he hadn’t raced upon, Larson responded by setting second-quick time and then winning his heat race before posting the spectacular win in true Larson form.

After starting sixth, Larson was mired in fifth over the first one-third of the race as Kasey Kahne Racing shoe Pittman paced the field ahead of Donny Schatz and Shane Stewart.

Larson made quick work of Brad Sweet on a lap 11 restart and then engaged in a torrid duel with Larson/Marks wheelman Stewart for third for several laps over the middle portion of the race. Larson finally shook himself of his own hired gun and tracked down Schatz for second.

Larson rallied by Schatz on the high side with ease, but had less than ten laps remaining to chase down Pittman.

It looked to be too much ground to cover. Pittman was over a half straightaway ahead and cruising stress free.

Larson was on a mission though, pounding the high side and pounding it higher and higher each time by. He gobbled up car lengths per lap and was knocking on Pittman’s tailtank with three laps to go with a resurgent Stewart right there as well.

Larson slid past Pittman with the white flag in sight and paced the final round ahead of the past WoO champ who was left with no time to retort. Stewart finished on Pittman’s heels in third, saying that, “I think I had a better car than both of them at the end, I just took a little too long to figure out the top here in one and two. That was a fun race.”

Sweet made his way into fourth in the closing rounds with Schatz rounding out the top five.

The Wheatley Chronicles brings insight and highlights from all variety of racing series throughout the nation in 2017 and beyond along with the Open Wheel Power Rankings on a regular basis. Please send any comments, questions or advertising inquiries regarding The Wheatley Chronicles at www.sprintcarmania.com to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.